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Dominant Watergrasshill take Munster Crown;

Joy for the Watergrasshill hurlers after winning the Munster Intermediate title. Picture: Padraig Hogan.

AIB Munster Club IHC Final

Watergrasshill 1-21 Cashel King Cormacs 0-14

By Stephen Barry at TUS Gaelic Grounds

Watergrasshill are Munster Intermediate hurling champions after a dominant 10-point victory over Cashel King Cormacs in a downpour at TUS Gaelic Grounds.

Centre-forward Adam Murphy led the way with a point straight from the throw-in and he never stopped going in front of 2,336 fans, ending the day with 1-12 (1-5 from play).

Managed by 2001 Tipperary All-Ireland-winner and All-Star Eddie Enright, the Cork champions advance to meet Carey Faughs of Antrim in the All-Ireland semi-final in a fortnight.

Cashel were over-reliant on Devon Ryan’s frees and a couple of Eoghan Connolly sideline cuts. Tipp U20 Oisín O’Donoghue was their only starter to score from play.

Murphy showed his form in the opening minutes with the first two points, including a peach from the sideline.

A Ryan free put Cashel on the board but Brendan Lehane responded before teeing up captain Seán Desmond for a shot on goal which Jonathan Walsh was quick off his line to save.

A Ryan free and Oisín O’Donoghue, playing with advantage, brought Cashel level.

The trend soon emerged that any time the Hill were pegged back level, they clipped the next score to move ahead again. Murphy and the pacy Pádraig O’Leary did the needful for a 0-5 to 0-3 lead.

Connolly produced two major moments with back-to-back sideline cuts arrowed between the posts either side of a point from Hill’s roaming corner-back Ian O’Callaghan.

Ryan frees levelled the game twice more but the Hill forged ahead again by the break. Lehane and Ciarán O’Leary’s off-the-hurley strike pushed them two up.

After Ryan’s fifth free, Liam Foley, an early substitute for the injured Michael O’Driscoll, ensured the gap would remain two, 0-10 to 0-8, at half-time.

Cashel’s reliance on placed balls was signposted with just one point coming from play while the Hill’s cutting edge was such that they only needed one free.

Murphy and Ryan traded two frees apiece on the restart but after Murphy registered from play, Ryan pushed a routine free wide. Anthony Cronin celebrated the Hill’s next point by punching the air to mark the first four-point gap between the sides.

O’Donoghue brought it back to a one-score game but not for long. Desmond supplied Murphy who whistled his bullet just over the crossbar.

His next chance came around straight from the next puck-out. Anthony and Patrick Cronin did the spadework for Murphy to skip a low shot to the bottom corner. 1-15 to 0-11 after 48 minutes.

Ger Browne, introduced as a sub, nailed a tricky score but Aiden Foley stopped a close-range Ryan free.

The Hill took over with five points on the spin, while Desmond forced Walsh into another save.

Cashel sub Adrian Cummins scored back-to-back points, but it was the Hill’s day.

Scorers for Watergrasshill: Adam Murphy 1-12 (7fs), Brendan Lehane 0-3, Ian O’Callaghan, Ciarán O’Leary, Shane O’Regan, Liam Foley, Pádraig O’Leary, Anthony Cronin 0-1 each.

Scorers for Cashel King Cormacs: Devon Ryan 0-7 (7fs), Eoghan Connolly (2 sidelines), Oisín O’Donoghue, Adrian Cummins 0-2 each, Ger Browne 0-1.

Watergrasshill: Aiden Foley; Shane Field, Dylan McCarthy, Ian O’Callaghan; Michael O’Driscoll, Dáire O’Leary, Kevin O’Neill; Anthony Cronin, Aaron Spriggs; Ciarán O’Leary, Seán Desmond, Shane O’Regan; Brendan Lehane, Adam Murphy, Pádraig O’Leary.

Subs: Liam Foley for O’Driscoll (28, inj), Patrick Cronin for O’Callaghan (46), Chris Healy for P O’Leary (52), James McCarthy for C O’Leary (59), Paddy O’Regan for Spriggs (60), Ryan Murray for Field (60+5, temporary).

Cashel King Cormacs: Jonathan Walsh; Kieran O’Dwyer, Nathan Ryan, Conn Bonnar; James Cummins, Conor O’Dwyer, Anthony Walsh; Ronan Connolly, Eoghan Connolly; Ross Bonnar, Devon Ryan, Cathal Quinn; Paddy Fahy, Oisín O’Donoghue, David McGrath.

Subs: Ger Browne for McGrath (42), Adrian Cummins for Fahy (52), Dan Moloney for A Walsh (57).

Referee: Niall Malone (Clare).

Munster JHC Title for Russell Rovers

30th November 2024; Russell Rovers joint captains Ciaran Sheehan and Eoghan O’Sulivan raise the cup after defeating Kilrossanty in the AIB Munster club junior hurling championship final at Pairc Ui Rinn. Picture: Eddie O’HareRussell Rovers claim Munster JHC crown;

Barry O’Mahony (The Echo)

Russell Rovers: 3-12

Kilrossanty: 1-7

Russell Rovers have claimed another AIB Munster Club JHC title after recovering from a slow start to get the better of Waterford side Kilrossanty at a damp Páirc Uí Rinn on Saturday afternoon.

The Imokilly outfit also won the provincial crown at this grade in 2019 and they were full value for a second one as they proved too strong for their opposition in this final once they got going.

Russell Rovers did have to ride their luck at times with their opposition wasteful in front of goal most notably Waterford senior hurler Pádraig Fitzgerald, but overall it was an impressive showing from Dave Dorgan’s team with Donal Óg Cusack the coach.

The East Cork side recovered from an early setback as they conceded a goal after just 12 seconds when from the throw-in, Alan Dunwoody set up Eoin Power and the forward finished low past Ross Walsh in the Russell Rovers goal.

Brian Hartnett settled the Imokilly side with a point after three minutes, but if it wasn’t for wayward shooting by the Waterford side, Russell Rovers would have been further behind. The sides traded points before the Cork champions found their mojo.

Points from Daniel Moynihan and the excellent Hartnett levelled the contest before they went ahead for the first time after 18 minutes when the aforementioned Hartnett drilled the ball into the roof of the net from close range, 1-4 to 1-1.

Josh Beausang extended Russell Rovers’ advantage with a white flag with 11 minutes to the break, but they wouldn’t score again in the first half. Kilrossanty didn’t exactly punish them either, but they got two points through Pádraig Fitzgerald, one coming from a free, 1-5 to 1-3 at half-time.

The East Cork outfit needed to find their groove again, and two quick-fire points from Beausang was just the tonic for Dave Dorgan’s team after the interval. The teams swapped white flags as the game was still firmly in the balance after 37 minutes, 1-8 to 1-4.

The game tipped along, which favoured Russell Rovers as they kept their opposition at arms-length, with Paul Lane and Eoghan O’Sullivan shoring up the defence for the Cork side. The sides once more exchanged white flags before the Imokilly team put distance between themselves and their opposition with a second green flag, coming from Hartnett again, after 48 minutes following a long delivery by Daniel Moynihan, 2-9 to 1-5.

A Beausang free and an effort from Luke Duggan-Murray gave Russell Rovers a nine-point lead with nine minutes left.

The winners did have a man sent off after 52 minutes when defender Kevin Tattan received a straight red card for a wild pull, but it didn’t matter in the overall picture of this particular game.

Kilrossanty did tack on points from Séamus Fitzgerald (free) and Pádraig Fitzgerald, but it was all about staying strong from a Russell Rovers point of view, which they did in the closing stages.

Dorgan’s team finished with a flourish with a Beasuang free and a pile driver from Duggan-Murray as his shot ended up in the back of the net a minute into added time. A great strike from 30 metres out, 3-12 to 1-7.

Another Munster crown for the men from East Cork.

Scorers for Russell Rovers: B Hartnett 2-2, J Beausang 0-7 (0-3 f), L Duggan-Murray 1-2, D Moynihan 0-1.

Kilrossanty: P Fitzgerald 0-5 (0-3 f), E Power 1-0, S Fitzgerald (f), P Whyte 0-1 each.

RUSSELL ROVERS: R Walsh; K O’Brien, P Lane, K Tattan; F Murray, E O’Sullivan, D Moynihan; K Walsh, R Cummins; B Hartnett, K Moynihan, D Ruddy; L Duggan-Murray, C Sheehan (c), J Beausang.

Munster Final for Sars

Sarsfields will play Ballygunner (Waterford) will play in the AIB Munster Club Senior Hurling Championship Final on Sunday December 1st at 3:15pm in FBD Semple Stadium Thurles.

Ticket Information

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Match Coverage

This game will be shown live on TG4.